Well, as I had mentioned before, when I posted the final version of concept one there was another tenticled beast right next to it. In addition, the idea that had inspired me in the first place was of a creature much more “whale-like”, I just like to draw tenticles, so I gave the other idea a try. Not wanting my entry to be too similar to someone else’s and in an attempt to move back in the direction I originally envisioned, I came up with this. The creature is based on one of my original scribble sketches. I think the composition is much more interesting, I like the way the woman’s body language describes the relationship between her and the leviathan, and the image has a sense of motion and energy, so I’ll see where this one leads.

So, I started out with a very complex and detailed surface texture, but found that having so many lines evenly distributed accross the surface of the leviathan’s skin gave it a very flat, two dimensional look, which I was not at all happy with. After a bit of consideration, I decided that it’s skin texture needed more, larger, masses and less (but not too much less) small detail.

I think this new concept is better. It really speaks volumes about their relationship.

One thing though, the woman’s body looks stiff from waist down. The way I look at it, I’m seeing the leviathan swimming carefully with the woman reclining on its head/neck, but when I look at how her body is curved, I’m not sure if what I’m seeing is what you meant. She kinda looks like she’s falling off. :\

I’ve refined some of the surface volumes on the head and I’m much happier with it. I think it looks much less flat, and I feel like the teeth and eye aren’t as lost in the clutter.

Thank you very much for the input, Liiga. I’ll bend her at the torso some and see if it flows better. Adding some shading to the woman’s body might also help, when I get there I had seen them as only in contact with each other at the woman’s shoulders, with her body trailing a bit to the right as the leviathan changes direction, turning the left.

As I was working in more of the detail, from somewhere in my demented brain came the idea of giving him gills like the “mudpuppies” I used to catch as a kid. I put them in there, and for a while, I actually liked how it was working, but all of a sudden I realized it was a horrible idea and completely contrary to the contrast I was trying to develop in the image, so I’m pretty sure they’ll be gone in the next version. I am, however, happy with how his dorsal fin is working.

Ok. Not much of a change, but I ditched the external gills and wanted a version up without them. I want to find some way to bring up the dorsal fin so it’s a little more visible. Maybe when I get it drawn in on the tail it’ll stand out more in general. Think I’ll put in a couple of rows of larger scales on either side of the dorsal fin, too, to exemplify the perspective a little more and make the leviathan look like it stretches into the distance more.

PoshspiceWhat gorgeous pencil work Clint! :bounce: How are you going to go about colouring?

First, thank you! I’m flattered. In answer to question, very carefully, and hopefully very quickly, as we’ve only got two and half weeks left. Work is finally on the verge of letting up a little bit so I can dedicate more time to this, so I’m hoping to start coloring right away. More updates coming this weekend (tomorrow).
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The primary reason I developed the creature to this level of detail, I think, was because I was concerned that I would be unable to make it look the way I had it envisioned, partially because the picture I had in my mind wasnt entirely clear. Now that Ive worked it all out and am reasonably happy with how the leviathan looks, I think Id darn well better stop messing around with the black and white and get started on coloring, as Im running rather short on time. I wont want to shade the woman in black and white, anyway, because it would all get lost as soon as I added the skin tones. Ill just have to develop the rest of it as I go, if there are any other elements that need to be added to the composition.

Gregeon: No puking, please! Guilty as charged re: detail freak. Yes, I’m a little concerned I’ll lose some detail while I’m applying color, but I’m gonna give it a shot. I’m hoping I can maintain most of it. I think if I put in too complex of a background the image will become cluttered because of the level of detail in the foreground, so I’ll keep it simple in any case. I haven’t quite decided, however, what exactly I’m going to do with it. Thanks , everyone, for the generous compliments!

Well . . . sigh . . . I havent given up yet. Ive been working on painting the woman while I decide what to do with the leviathan (color wise). Im getting a bit concerned that theres too much detail all around and that maybe the characters get lost because you cant see them clearly. Particularly the woman. I dont know how clearly you can see, but Ive got her mechanical enhancements sketched in as well, and Ill be painting them later this evening. Feedback would be very much so appreciated, though I dont know how much time Ive really got to change things much. I might just have to forge ahead in the direction Im going, now, if I want to be able to finish in the next week.